


Leverage Point

by Spunky0ne, thedrunkenwerewolf



Series: Heirverse: Phase 2 (Can We Survive This?) [13]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Banter, Demonic Possession, Established Relationship, Hopeful Ending, Implied Sexual Content, Introspection, M/M, Worldbuilding, angels & demons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-12
Updated: 2019-07-12
Packaged: 2020-06-26 10:01:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19765891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spunky0ne/pseuds/Spunky0ne, https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedrunkenwerewolf/pseuds/thedrunkenwerewolf
Summary: An unexpected encounter with angelic and demonic power provides Sosuke Aizen with a deepened understanding of his own connection to his lover, Gin Ichimaru.





	Leverage Point

It was already dark outside when the weary captains of the fifth and third divisions left the fifth division headquarters where they'd been conducting joint training exercises and stepped out, onto the quiet street together. Still, even though he was definitely tired from the horridly long workday, shifting the focus from their work to spending quality time with his captain and lover infused Gin with fresh energy, bringing a smile to his lips and more spring to his step as they headed down the street and away from the office (as well as the irritating presence of Momo Hinamori).

_I guess even though some time has passed, it'll be a long time before I stop wanting to tear her hair out and rip her apart for what she did. I do blame Sosuke for fucking her, but at least now I know there was a reason that happened. Still, that girl's got no reason, except that she's a damned slut who can't keep her thieving hands off what doesn't belong to her. I can't forget walking in and seein' Sou on top of her while she laid on her back on his desk with her legs all spread for him. Ugh! I want to kill her._

He didn't notice the man next to him was watching him through curious eyes or that his riled reiatsu had attracted the attention.

"Are you feeling all right, Gin?" Aizen asked suddenly, derailing his thoughts, "I feel a bit of heat in your reiatsu. Is something wrong?"

There was, in fact, something still wrong.

_I hate that bitch. I get angry every time I think about her, but..._

Not wanting to give power to the lingering presence of the girl that irritated him so much, Gin just smirked and lied through his teeth.

"I'm just thinking about what we're gonna do when we get home. We have a whole weekend to spend together."

"I was thinking about that also," Sosuke answered, blinking slowly and refocusing on him, "What would you say to visiting my private retreat for the weekend?"

Gin's smile widened.

"The one near the lake on the edge of the Kuchiki estate?" he asked, brightening, "That's pretty and it's private. I guess we wouldn't be bothered there."

Aizen's smile faded slightly.

"I wouldn't allow the two of us to be _bothered_ wherever we chose to go for the weekened, unless you are bothered by some _thing_ as much as some _one_."

"Don't worry about that," Gin said dismissively, "The retreat is _perfect_. It's just right for a weekend of playing and making love."

"It also has quite a lovely garden to walk in," Sosuke said, enjoying the way Gin's happiness felt good to him too, "There is a boat for floating on the lake. It's actually enchanting in the early morning when the mist hangs over it."

"Then, I guess we're gonna be getting up early, at least once while we're there," Gin laughed, "It sounds good. Let's go there."

"Very well," Sosuke said, turning them down a quieter street that led toward the outer edges of the famed Kuchiki estate.

As they walked, Sosuke admired Gin, who in turn, was admiring the beauty of the sakura petals that the light breeze loosed from the nearby trees to swirl and float on the air as they gradually made their way to carpet the ground on the sides of the trail that they walked, on the border of the estate.

 _I would love to lay him down on those petals and fuck him right there_ , Aizen thought to himself.

He was considering whether to just use his power and do so, when an odd pulsation in the energy around the area, made him stiffen and frown as he placed a hand on his zanpakuto. He noted Gin was having a like reaction.

"What is that?" Gin breathed softly, glaring in the direction of the disturbance.

Gin wasn't afraid, but the chaotic nature of the energy was a warning not to take the situation lightly.

"I'm not sure. Come, Gin."

Gin followed without hesitation.

They entered the outer grounds of the Kuchiki estate, carefully masking their reiatsu, so as not to be sensed, either by the Kuchiki house guards or by whatever was responsible for the savage vibrations of power. The heavy shudders continued and as they closed in, the two could hear muted sounds of pain and anguish. Both of them immediately recognized the voice.

_Tetsuya Kuchiki?_

Aizen watched raptly as his Gin's expression darkened dangerously and his hand immediately went to his zanpakuto.

"Such a strong reaction," he observed calmly, knowing he had no right to the prick of jealousy he felt.

"Tetsuya's a gentle soul. Nothin' but kindness in him. Who'd have any reason to hurt someone like him?" Gin growled in an irritated tone.

"I see," Aizen said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "but you feel the intensity, don't you? The raw power being exchanged? Gin, this is well beyond anything that young man is known to possess. Come along now, but let me lead."

Gin was furious at the thought of his good-hearted friend being hurt, but he was wise enough to attend to his Sousuke's warning. He remained fixed at Aizen's right shoulder as they moved forward, slowly closing in on the center of the disturbance. The two men stiffened as they came to the edge of a cluster of trees that ended at the top of a remote waterfall.

Tetsuya laid naked on his back, his abandoned clothing underneath his pale, slender body. His creamy thighs were widespread, and between them laid another man, dark-haired with oddly glowing black eyes and a feral expression that suggested both rising pleasure and intense, gripping pain.

"Fuckin' hell, what is that?" Gin whispered in horrified fascination, "What do we do, Sou?"

He was well aware that whatever was in control of the man atop Tetsuya was of a level of power he didn't want to think about.

"We have to stop it," he breathed, both fearful now of the thing in front of them and worried that his gentle friend was about to die.

"Wait," Aizen said firmly, taking hold of Gin's arm.

"What?" Gin objected, "But, it's killing him!"

"That would be true," Aizen said, his gaze and his tone intense as he held onto Gin and watched raptly, "if the beast within that man was feeding on Tetsuya's life force or the shinigami reiatsu inside him. But…you can feel it, can't you? What this beast feeds on is as powerful as the beast itself. There is only one thing that this could be."

Gin ached to break free of his lover's tight grasp and his heart raced as he was taken back in time to the wild stories told by the older men in the village he'd lived in, down in the low Rukongai.

_There were, of course, the stories they told to scare us children into never venturing out into the wilderness beyond the edges of town…stories of an old woman who lured children with promises of toys and candy so that she could steal their souls, stories of wolf puppies that would lead them into a pack's trap to be eaten. But the most awful and frightening stories were the ones of the beautiful demons, the ones who looked human, but who only waited for their victim to fall asleep, then they would suck the life right out of their veins. This looks like that fucking kind of demon, but…Tetsuya isn't dying._

"A spirit demon," Aizen said, both confirming Gin's worst fears and warning him not to move any closer.

"A spirit demon would have devoured him in a moment," Gin breathed warily, his eyes unable to tear themselves away from the impossible scene in front of him, "and you and I both know that for a spirit demon to enter our world…"

"It requires something to limit its influence on the world we're in," Aizen continued, "This world would be shattered by what amounts to a godly or divine power. The man on top of Tetsuya is the vessel that contains and limits the demon's influence on this world."

 _'Now that_ would _be fun to watch,'_ the voice cackled, " _but we can't let him steal my revenge now can we?_ '

Aizen ignored it in favor of Gin.

"And what about Tetsuya?" Gin asked, "What is the demon feeding on, if it's not his life force or his own shinigami reiatsu? Are you sayin' that there's some other power in him?"

"Exactly," Aizen affirmed.

"S-so, Tetsuya is being possessed by a demon too?" Gin concluded tentatively, his hand shaking slightly where it still held his sword.

"Not a demon," Aizen said, his voice filled with intellectual arousal, "not at all. Gin, think of it this way. I've long theorized that there are souls who enter this world on divine missions. These beings can be light or dark, good or evil, if you will, but they have a function, a purpose that can be understood."

"And you think that Tetsuya's soul is like that? Or is it the evil soul in that guy? Is it both?" Gin mused, shuddering.

He noticed then, beyond the fact that the two men's bodies in front of them were joined sexually, they were also connected by a glowing, fleshy protrusion that seemed to emanate from within the other man's breast and ran down to where it had pierced the place just over Tetsuya's heart. Gin blinked and squinted, focusing intently on the protrusion as a thought struck him.

"A snake?" he managed, "Is that thing…a _snake_ , Sou?"

Indeed, he could see now that the thing did have a head and two wicked red eyes, and that its mouth was opened wide and its sharp fangs were buried in Tetsuya's pale breast as the snake drank in bright milky reiatsu that oozed and dribbled around the puncture wounds.

"I know that man," Aizen said suddenly, focusing on the man on top of their friend, "Orochi Kuchiki. He is heir to the leadership of a powerful subfamily. In that subfamily, each leader possesses a snake spirit zanpakuto. It was speculated that the appearance of a snake zanpakuto is how the family knows which of the young should be named heir. I think now that is wrong."

"You do?" Gin asked, still staring, "Then…?"

"The snake is a single, devastatingly powerful demon spirit," Aizen explained in a maddeningly calm voice, "The demon _chooses_ the next heir he will possess. I suspect the heir is then invaded by the demon in some sort of family ritual."

"Demon possession in a noble family?" Gin wondered aloud, "and of all families, Byakuya's? Do you really think he would allow that? I would think he would kill the demon himself, or at least he would try."

"He would," Aizen agreed, "if he knew about it. But it's clear to me that he doesn't know. And I would postulate that this man, Orochi, knows that it is a wicked power he possesses. It is one that his elders would condemn, so I imagine that the ritual and the history of this power is kept secret within the subfamily. Only…despite the truth being hidden, _our world senses the hidden threat_."

"It does?" Gin asked incredulously.

"Yes," Aizen affirmed, "Think of this demon spirit as an impossibly large boulder that must somehow be moved. In the most basic sense, we cannot move it or lift it…not unless we use the correct tool and find that critical point…the leverage point. It is there that the change force must be applied to achieve the desired end…in the simpler case, the boulder being moved."

"So, you're sayin' that the power in Tetsuya is the leverage point?" Gin inquired.

"It is the change force," Aizen corrected him, "It is only waiting to be applied. When it is, I expect the demon spirit will be vanquished."

"But…the demon spirit is feeding on Tetsuya's divine power," Gin objected.

"Yes," Aizen agreed, reaching into his shihakusho and wrapping his hand around the dark orb that he kept always on his person, and had never told Gin about, "This is a perversion of Tetsuya's divine power that is allowing the demon spirit to remain for hundreds, or even thousands of years within our world. It needs a source to sustain itself, and it has found the very change force needed to overwhelm it. So, it feeds on that power, which is both a source of survival and a threat of extinction. While the change force is thus occupied, it cannot be applied to the leverage point. Still, there are _other sources of change force_."

Gin's eyes rounded in realization.

"You're sayin' that _you_ can destroy that demon?" he asked disbelievingly.

"I can destroy it, thus negating the demon and the need for Tetsuya's existence. However, if I apply that force right now, both of these men will die. Still…what price for making sure that our world is not threatened anymore by that demon?"

Aizen took a step forward, starting to withdraw the orb. His breath caught in surprise as he was stopped by Gin's hand that laid itself upon one of his arms.

"Oh?" he mused, looking at Gin curiously, "You don't think I should destroy them? I would remind you that the threat to our worlds from a demon such as this is profound, and I'm sure you are aware that it's not a given that Tetsuya will overcome the grip that snake has on him. He could fail and our worlds destabilize. Yet, you hesitate to have me act now? How reckless of you. You do this because Tetsuya is our _friend_?"

Gin considered carefully for a moment, then a lazy smile crawled onto his thin lips.

"Naw," he chuckled, "it's just that the powers that be went to such trouble to give Tetsuya that power, and he's not going to fail."

Aizen eyed his silver-haired companion more closely.

"You _trust_ him that much? This friend of yours?" he asked pointedly.

"I thought he was _our_ friend," Gin said, smirking, "And I was actually thinkin' that your leverage point for the application of whatever power you have might be much lower than the leverage point of the change force that was made specifically to destroy that demon. You'd have to use a lot of power to kill both of them, and it would be bad, I assume, for the Gotei to sense you using an unnaturally strong power like that?"

Aizen couldn't hold back an appreciative smile.

"A _very_ astute observation, Gin," he praised his lover as he fixed his eye on Tetsuya again, "And I must agree that assuming Tetsuya's power is a change force that fate has designed to apply to this specific worldly threat, it is logical to assume that the leverage point it will use is a higher one than one that happened across these two. Very well, then, if it is your desire, I will leave them alone…although, you do realize he could still fail?"

Gin looked on quietly as the demon snake detached from Tetsuya's white breast and sank back down into Orochi's now collapsed and resting body.

"He won't fail," Gin said with certainty.

"Hmm, you have tremendous faith in the universe, don't you?" Aizen observed.

"Nope," Gin laughed, "Look at'em and you'll see it."

"Hmm?"

Aizen's piqued brown eyes followed Gin's gaze to where the fingers of one of Orochi's hands were laced together with Tetsuya's in a gesture that radiated possessiveness and control, but seemed also bracing. And Tetsuya's face, he noted, was turned towards, not away from Orochi's.

 _Truly fascinating_.

Aizen's head turned and his eye fell on Gin again. He thought of the wicked, compelling voice in his head that had spent decades trying so viciously to separate him from his Gin.

His brown eyes widened at the thought.

_This voice in my head, this invader…fears Gin's influence._

It was so obvious, why hadn't he seen it before, why hadn't he noticed when it mattered. Idiot! _  
_

He blinked slowly.

_What does this say about Gin? Could it be that fate has brought him close to me, and he is the change force meant to be applied to this thing that afflicts my mind?_

_What an enchanting thought!_

_Gin…the change force only looking to apply himself to the perfect leverage point…and this thing in my head trying to shift to avoid him…truly amazing!_

And now that the voice wanted Gin for leverage and Gin knew and was going along with it...Perhaps he, no perhaps _they_ could find that point.

He gave his silver-haired partner a sly grin and let go of the orb hidden in his clothing. Instead, he placed his hand in Gin's and turned him away from the now silently sleeping shinigamis.

"So, you're not gonna kill them, even though it would surely end the threat of that snake demon?" Gin asked curiously.

"Well," Aizen said, smirking at him and kissing him on the cheek as they started walking again in the direction of the private lake retreat, "you made such a compelling argument…and your protectiveness for your friend is…touching."

"So, just like that, you'll give up a chance to save the world, Sou?" Gin chuckled.

Aizen glanced back over his shoulder at the shinigami angel resting quietly in the arms of his devilish counterpart.

"I think the world is safe in those hands, don't you?"


End file.
